If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I liked this episode because Ash lost. It's just more entertaining when he loses instead of making up dumb strategies on the spot and miraculously winning due to some kind of fluke. I'm also amused that Pikachu got KO'd by a non-damaging attack, and that he sent Turtwig in even knowing Cranidos had Flamethrower. Hurrrrr. That's what he gets for not using Staravia and making it depressed.

In Shinji's defence, he didn't exactly just release Azumarill and leave it to fend for itself - he gave it to another trainer; a young boy who will care for it and who was obviously pleased by Shinji's...generosity?

In a way, it was a bit decent of him?

I claimed Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud in the Celebrity 3.0 thread, Keitaro and Motoko from Love Hina in the Couple 3.0 thread and Kaolla Su from Love Hina in the Bishie 2.0 thread!

70% of the Serebii population uses ultra powerful legendaries (also known as ubers) in their teams.
If you are one of the 30% that thinks outside the box and doesn't use ubers, copy and paste
this into your signature! (Started by SapphireL)

(Must have been good if I kept it as my avatar for 18 months. Heehee.)

Anyway, it's too bad that Ash lost this battle when he was battling in front of Paul (he could have really used the opportunity to show him up), but at least it was a great battle. Staravia's reaction to not being chosen for battle was priceless too. It's funny that this is the first time Ash lost at the first gym of a region since Brock in season one.

New shinies week of/ 8/3-8/10: None, playing Moon
New shinies week of 8/10-8/17: None, playing Moon

As great as Shinji's battle against Hyouta was, Satoshi's is even better. While we don't get any of the fancy game tactic crap we saw in the previous episode, not only is this a devastating entrance into Sinnoh for Satoshi, but we see his rivalry with Shinji only grow even more bitter. He finally gets the chance to prove his not "pathetic" as Shinji implies, only to make himself look like more of a fool than ever. But in spite of the loss, it's an excellent battle with some excellent music and animation. Unlike round 1 with Lila, he puts up a legitimate fight against Hyouta, who is given the upper edge here by rotating his order and releasing Zugaidos first.

That, of course, gives way to the semi-twist where an Onix takes the victory - a Pokemon we've seen time and time again who has far passed the point of being remarkable. Even the first half of the episode before the battle is worth it, not just for the classic instance of Muku.BIRD's dejection, but for some more unfolding Team Rocket events (again, wisely used here) and some further development of the Shinji rivalry (the Azumarill release being a highlight). Overall, I'm struggling to find a complaint about this episode, as it was different enough from Shinji's battle, and I just can't get enough of this rivalry in general. It may have ended in a loss, but it still remains one of Sinnoh's top gym battles, and is the Kurogane arc's overall highlight.

A

(For the record, I do give A+ grades, but they're reserved for only the incredibly remarkable.)

Episode was interesting. Poor Staravia, it had great personallity. It was funny how Paul went back to watch Ash's battle when Ash's Pikachu used that Electric thing...
Ash loosing didn't impressed me much, his Pokemon(exept Pikachu) were new and didn't had much battling experience...

1) Paul gave away his Azumarill to a little boy just because it lost. It's dumb, he could've trained it to become stronger.
2) Pikachu lost to Onix's Screech, which shouldn't do any damage.

Those things upset me too. But I think it was the fact that Pikachu got knocked into a boulder as a result of screech that hurt it and made it faint.

I was also upset that Ash lost, but it was his own fault. I think he was too focused on trying to show off in front of Paul instead of focusing more on his battle and that's the reason why he lost. The little Dawn and Paul squabble was funny. Cool episode.

A good match, shame Ash lost but it shows you can't just think you are going to win everything. Sure he defeated a Regice with Pikachu but Roark is what 20? 30? He's probably trained his Pokemon alot over the years especially since becoming a gym leader, so his Pokemon wouldn't be weak. If you could sweep Gyms then it would probably defeat the point of it.

Poor Staravia, it really wanted to battle but aleast it got to against Gardenia.
The match with Paul and Roark was interesting, lol at Dawn getting mad because Paul didn't know her name (Or didn't care).
I actually laughed out loud too when she was like "Excuse me!" and become ******.

Last edited by Willow's Tara; 31st May 2010 at 8:36 AM.

Claims Amber Benson as Bishie
United we stand but separated we fall
As of April 18th, 2015, I met, hugged, took a selfie and a video with Amber Benson. This signature stands to the days where I wished for it, and that dream became reality.

Wow, hard to compete with some of these reviews. I think I'll have to focus more on little things I liked rather than general schemes.

All right, so I'm skipping from dp 12 to dp 16 now. In that time, Starly evolved into Staravia for Ash (that episode I remember more for hypnotized Meowth), and Bonsly evolved into Sudowoodo for Brock (episode remembered for Jessie's exaggeration of a 100 yrs for how long Nuzleaf was lost and Dawn using her pokedex on Shiftry "meowth"). The gang reached the first gym city (the city's name that I can't spell) and got to see Paul win his first badge. Ash invites Paul to watch his gym battle against Roark the next day.

The idea of a guest sitting in on Ash's gym battle becomes a staple later on in Sinnoh, and I think it's a great idea. It certainly livens up the atmosphere.

Many times in these gym battles, it's not the most powerful pokemon from the gym leader I find interesting, it's the 2nd one. So for Roark, that turns out to be Onix. Pikachu's battle against Onix is the best one in this episode for me. However, first things first. The real highlight of this episode is Pikachu's thunderbolt to bring a disgusted, about to leave Paul back to his seat as Cranidos is decimating Ash's team (and right then was giving Pikachu a real thrashing). Trying to add anything I can to what's been said about this rivalry b/w Paul and Ash, the pokemon are something else that makes this work. Whether they've picked up on their trainer's attitudes (and this isn't necessarily always negative later on) or it's more personal with pokemon on the other boy's team, the pokemon are very intense in these confrontations b/w Ash and Paul. This gym battle isn't a battle b/w Ash and Paul, but Pikachu still is determined to defend Ash's skill as a trainer and lets it show in the thunderbolt. That scene has to be one of the top friendship scenes b/w Ash and Pikachu, and it's one to rewind a few times over.

Even after that show of defiance from Pikachu, though, Ash is unable to turn the gym battle around. He's forced to recall Pikachu and send in Turtwig, who takes a very damaging flamethrower before it's able to KO Cranidos. This leads to Turtwig being defeated quickly, and Ash left with a tired Pikachu against Onix (with Roark still having Geodude). Ash thinks up a strategy to slow Onix down and have Pikachu come in for a Quick Attack (probably to boost up an Iron Tail), but Onix launches a screech counter-attack that knocks Pikachu into a rock and defeats it. This is a great deal of detail, but the truth is you're probably going to remember all of this when you watch the episode. It really sticks with you, and that's a sign of how perfect the atmosphere is. For the 2nd time in an encounter with Paul, Ash connects with his Pokemon (he did it with Turtwig against Paul and here with Pikachu against Roark) and still ends up losing. As others have said in this thread, it really lays the foundation for the rivalry b/w Ash and Paul.

Special mention to Dawn, who you can see is trying to understand Ash's battling style and the way gym battles go. She's surprised at Ash's use of Volt Tackle (with Paul being a little more blunt in his criticism) and cheers Ash's defeat of Cranidos, only to be reminded by Brock that Roark is still firmly in control.

The best part was when Paul wanted to go, and then Pikachu exploded with rage and Paul stayed. At that moment, I thought Pikachu will beat Cranidos. Paul was impressed, but the writers again haven't given Pikachu's full power.

Oh, Staravia, you drama queen. Your :O face was the funniest part of the episode. However, Dawn's moment of rage at Paul was a close second.
The Volt Tackle vs Head Smash scene was awesome, definately one of the few non-comical moments of this episode that was better than the last episode. But Pikachu losing to an Onix was just the Pewter Gym all over again. *shakes head* And it was even more humiliating due to the fact that Paul was watching and Screech is not a damage inflicting move.
Oh, well. Even though Ash lost it was a very awesome loss and contributes to character development.

It was a very good gym battle. The best part was when dawn got really mad because paul didnt know her name. I also liked how paul sat as far away from brock and dawn as possible when watching the battle

So, Ash loses his first gym battle in the sinnoh region. Oh, well. He can't expect to win them all easily now, can he? If Paul hadn't of been there maybe he would've not been so concentrated on trying to show Paul up.

It was funny when Staravia didn't get picked for the battle. A simply priceless scene.

Ya know, if Starly wasn't brain-damaged after getting that Pokeball thrown at him earlier in the season, then Staraptor sure is brain-damaged now from hitting his head like that.